Throughout the regular season, the Boston Bruins were cruising very fast on the highway to history. Once they reached the playoffs, however, the Bruins took the first exit.
Usually, I start to feel intrigued by a team that enjoys historic levels of success. That was the case with the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who enjoyed a historical level of dominance, becoming the first NBA team to reach the 70-win plateau, finishing with a 72-10 record, and then winning the NBA title. That same season, the Detroit Red Wings also enjoyed a record-setting year, but it felt like they disappointed when they got bounced out of the playoffs in the Western Conference Finals by Colorado. I found the 2007 New England Patriots intriguing. They shattered records en route to the only undefeated regular season that I ever saw, and then almost won the Super Bowl, although they ultimately were denied in the final minute. That was also the case with the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who sprinted off to a historical 24-0 start, the greatest undefeated start in North American sports history. They finished the regular season just edging out those 95-96 Chicago Bulls, but then they struggled a bit in the postseason. They made it to the NBA Finals and even owned a 3-1 series lead, but then lost control and eventually lost the series. They reminded me quite a bit of the 2007 Patriots.
There were some other teams worth noting in this regard, as well. But many of these teams failed to truly impress me, because somehow, their success felt….well, exaggerated, somehow. Such felt like the case with the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished the regular season with a 15-1 record, but lost to the Patriots in the AFC Championship. Ditto with the 2015 Carolina Panthers, who also finished with a 15-1 record, but who were thoroughly dominated by the Broncos in the Super Bowl. And that was also certainly the case with the 2018-19. Tampa Bay Lightning. For full disclosure, I just flat out am not a fan of the southern expansion teams in the NHL, and tend to be particularly irked by the Lightning. But their regular season success felt artificially inflated somehow. And this was certainly confirmed when they not only lost in the first round, but were actually swept.
Now, this year’s Boston Bruins also, admittedly, did not captivate me like some of those other amazing sports teams did. It felt somehow less than it should have felt. To put it another way, I was not really convinced. Perhaps a part of it is that I like the Montreal Canadiens, and still feel that the 60-8-12 season, capped off with a Stanley Cup championship, was and still remains the most successful season in NHL history, bar none. That could have changed, had the Bruins actually followed up and enjoyed the same kind of success in the playoffs that they did in the regular season. And I was not totally opposed to it. After all, at least they are one of the Original Six. There are plenty of teams I would rather not see make long playoff runs. But the Bruins, frankly, don’t bother me too much.
Yet, it still felt like their incredible regular season success – it now ranks, arguably at least, as the most successful regular season in NHL history, which is something that neither the ’96 Red Wings nor the ’19 Lightning could fully boast – did not guarantee success in the postseason. As it turns out, my reservations about them proved accurate.
Trust me, I’m not gloating. Again, I don’t hate the Boston Bruins, and would prefer to see them hoisting the Cup over perhaps half the league, being a fan of old-time teams rich in history and hockey tradition. It’s just that this felt inevitable. Not that I predicted that they would lose in the first round. That came as a surprise. But that they would not be the team hoisting the Stanley Cup, even after such an incredible regular season, where they smashed the win record and earned more points than any team ever has before? Believe it or not, it began to feel inevitable. After seeing other historical-level powerhouse teams – both in hockey as well as other sports – fail to live up to the billing when it counted the most, this Boston Bruins team, which felt like it came out of nowhere, felt destined to follow in those footsteps.
Not to belabor the point. But the 1977 Montreal Canadiens were not a shocking success story. They were part of a dynasty, and that season’s success was the pinnacle of what was, in fact, a dynasty team that feasted on a number of championships. Ditto with the 1996 Chicago Bulls. And even the 2007 New England Patriots and the 2016 Golden State Warriors were dynasties in their own right, even if the end result in those individual seasons ultimately proved to be, for them, heartbreaking disappointments.
This year’s Boston Bruins? Well, people will remember their regular season, which was truly historic. We may never see a team win 65 regular season games again, or earn quite as many points as the Bruins managed to do. That surely was a very difficult feat. But it feels like maybe they expended too much energy in pursuit of that goal, so that they had little left once the playoffs came around. Because losing in the first round, even if they went the distance to a Game 7, nevertheless feels like a failure, well beyond any failure that the Patriots or Warriors suffered. Say what you will, but at least those teams almost won it all, but were denied right at the end.
By contrast, this Bruins season would have been like if those ’07 Patriots were knocked out in their very first playoff game. Or if the Warriors had failed to survive past even the first round. Those are almost unthinkable outcomes, because again, the incredible, haw-dropping success and levels of dominance that those teams displayed – particularly on offense in both cases – truly was too powerful to be denied by anyone but the very best. But these Bruins were denied by the Florida Panthers who, I can almost guarantee, will not themselves win the Cup this year, either. In other words, the Bruins lost to also rans. This loss probably would not have hurt quite so much if the Bruins had not attracted all sorts of attention to themselves due to that incredible regular season. So they deserve both a lot of credit and commendation, while also, conversely and paradoxically, “earning” more criticism than even most playoff favorites who wind up burning out shockingly early.
My guess?
They were never all that great to begin with.
Don’t get me wrong: they clearly were good, or they would not have earned the number one seed, much less done so in historical fashion. But on level with some of the greatest hockey teams to ever take the ice? No, I don’t think so.
Apparently, neither did the Florida Panthers.
And now, neither will history.
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